Halloween

Blessings, Tracy

WE CAN SEE!!!

We had 3 extra 26mm doll eyes (1 single & 1 pair) left over from other projects, so we decided to give Mr. Bones and his front porch friend some new peepers.  We were also lucky to have an eye patch lying around (don't ask me why), so that made up for the missing fourth eye. We attached the eyes in the skeleton's eye sockets with poster putty, since we may eventually need to remove them to use in new projects.  
Now, Mr. Bones and his front porch friend can keep a closer eye on those sneaky Trick or Treaters.

 Blessings, Tracy

New Skeleton Votive

Here is the large skeleton votive I purchased at Patina the other day.  He really is adorable.

Blessings, Tracy

Great, Great Grandpa Mr. Bones

I ran across this antique image on the internet and just knew it would be fitting for our Halloween decor.  I printed it, backed it with black paper and framed it to place next to the front door.  We tell the neighborhood kids a whole tall tale about how this was Mr. Bones' Great, Great Grandfather and tell them about all the great (ahem...outlandish) things  he did during his life (i.e. helped build the Brooklyn Bridge, fought it two wars, invented the ice cream cone...the list goes on and on).  I know silly, but everyone gets a kick out of it...especially me and my sweet hubby.  My husband even has a funny/strange first name for him, that escapes me at the moment.  It really makes the little ones stop and think for a minute or two. It also adds to the "mystic" of the bony fella who likes to ride through our front garden each fall.  

Blessings, Tracy

DOCTOR NEEDED....STAT!!!

One of my skeletons had a little mishap in the basement; which resulted in the poor guy suffering a severely broken leg.  What happened buddy?  Hope you are feeling better before Halloween.

Blessings, Tracy

Question about Mr. Bones...

Patty emailed me, with a few questions about our handsome Mr. Bones...

If you haven't already read the "Introducing Mr. Bones" post, see below.

 She was wondering about the rebar and his spine support in general and asking if I had any close up pictures of the rebar that holds him on his bike.  She also asks for close up shots of how his feet and hands are attached.  

First off, Mr. Bone's spine is very strong and sturdy.  Yep, he's a milk drinker! ;-) In other words, it wouldn't just flop around without the rebar support.  The spine bones are all fused together with (I'm assuming) some kind of rod inside.  If you look at the picture, in the "Creepy Hanging Spider" post, of the skeleton on my front porch (Mr. Bone's, yet to be named, partner in crime), he is pretty much sitting up straight on his own.  His arms are supporting his torso.

After chasing him around in our basement, I was finally able to snap a few pictures of our elusive Mr. Bones -
  

Here you can see the rebar, through his rib cage, mimicking his spine. 

Here is a side view of a section of his spine, with zip ties.

 

Here is a view of the bike seat, from front to back.

Here a second shot of the bike seat, from back to front.

Here is a (poor) shot of the underside of the bike seat, from the rear, with the rebar poking through.

Here's a picture of his hand. His thumb, of course, is wrapped around the other side of the handle. You can barely see a small black zip tie, in between his middle and ring finger, securing his hand to the handle.
Oops, it looks like I need to straighten the tip of his index finger.

Here's a picture of one of his feet. You can see a larger white zip tie, on the outside of his foot, securing his foot to the pedal.

In the pictures above, the rebar and zip ties look really visible, but they do blend in when you see him in person.

Hope these pictures help. Good luck with your Halloween decor Patty!

P.S. If you would like to read about Mr. Bones' Great, Great Grandfather, see this post.

Blessings, Tracy

Creepy Hanging Spiders

Are you lucky enough to have a front porch? Yeah…we are!

Do you have vinyl siding, including a vinyl corrugated soffit? Ugh…unfortunately we do!
BUT, it just so happens that this type of soffit comes in handy for one of our Halloween decorating ideas. I made creepy spiders that hang from our soffits.

In these pictue you can see a few of our spiders hanging from our soffits.

**Update - You can see a short video of these guys swaying on our porch in this post.  The video seems temperamental, some times it appears & other times it is MIA.  Try again later if you don't see it.

These spiders were made in a variety of styles and sizes. They don’t have to be perfect, ours are rough. They move (spin & sway) so much that you rarely get a close look at them, so don't worry.

For storing purposes, I wrap the fishing line around the bodies & fasten the earring wire to a leg (as you can faintly see in this picture). This prevents them from getting tangled while they are stored. These were just pulled out of their storage bag (for this picture)...so they are looking a little smooshed.

Here's a brief how to -

1. For the spider’s bodies, we either wrapped and sewed black shiny fabric around Styrofoam balls or used different sizes of black fuzzy pom poms.
2. For the spider’s legs, we just sewed/secured different sizes and widths of pipe cleaners on the bottom of the body section and bent them to look like spider’s legs.
3. We then added a length of fishing line to each spider, by looping and knotting the line through the top or back of each spider’s body. By attaching the fishing line in different spots on your spiders, some will hang a little askew. We also used several different lengths of line, so the spiders would vary in heights.  I think both of these add interest.
4. We used a pierced earring wires & knotted the top of the fishing line to the notched area of the earring wire. Your spiders are done.

To hang –

1. Open each wire earring clasp and gently feed the straight end of it through one of the corrugated loops of the soffit. Our loops are tiny, so there are times I have to pull my little bag of patience out while I'm attaching these buggers. You may also run into one or two of these loops that does not go all the way through, just move on to a different loop. Once the wire has poked through, close the wire clasp and let the spider hang. The pierced earring wires are so fine that you don't even notice them. 
2. Adjust any spider legs that may have been smooshed while in storage.
3. Depending on the lengths of the hanging spiders, make sure you don’t hang them too close together, since they will get tangled when the wind blow them around.

Close up of our soffit.

Blessings, Tracy

Introducing....Mr. Bones!!!

We love Halloween here at our home! We have tons of small children in our neighborhood, which makes it so much fun. If you are looking for some "spooky" decorating ideas (not "frightening"...again, we have young children around), I think we have a few. Over the next few weeks, I will try to post some of our Halloween creations. I can also include brief explanations of how we made each item.

Here is one of our most popular outdoor items, Mr. Bones!

Sorry about the lame watermark. Trying to avoid any copycat image thievery. ;-)

I got this "Skeleton Riding a Bike" idea from the movie Stepmom. If you look closely, you will briefly see a skeleton on a bike (prop) during the Treat or Treating scene. If I say so myself, ours is much cooler! We purchased the bike and basket at Goodwill. The bike, flat tires and all, was $5 and the basket was $1. The flowers were purchase from a clearance bin at my local craft store. The skeleton is from the rejects bin at Bucky's Boneyard. I bought two of them many years ago and can't honestly remember how much they cost, but I know they were at least $80 each. These are real teaching grade skeletons, but bargain priced because of a coloring or a quality issue, etc. The neighborhood kids LOVE him and they were the ones that affectionately named him "Mr. Bones". This project is not as complicated as you may think. It is assembled with rebar, white paint & zip ties.

Here is a brief how to -

1. My sweet husband bent the top half of a piece of rebar to mimic the skeleton's spine, leaving the bottom section straight. The bent (spine) section was then painted white.
2. He then drilled a hole in the bike seat & continued down, having to notch a bit of the bike seat bolt (that holds the seat) to clear a path for the rebar. Once that was done, he stuck the rebar down in the hollow bike frame (shaft) under the bike seat, leaving the painted/bent end sticking out.
3. Have someone hold the skeleton in place on the seat & then, using large white zip ties, attach the spine in several spots to the painted section of rebar. Cut leftover zip tie tails off neatly.
4. Zip tie the bone connectors, in between the feet and hand bones, to the bike pedals and handles. Do this using a complimentary color of zip tie.
5. Zip tie the basket to the bike & add the flowers.
6. A second piece of unpainted rebar is pounded into the ground, mimicking the angle of the bike frame.
7. Set the bike next the the rebar & attach the frame, with large dark colored zip ties, securely to the rebar. Cut leftover zip tie tails off neatly. The weight of the bike will make it gently sway from side to side (slightly) when the wind blows. It really looks cool.
8. Sit back and wait for your elementary school bus to drive by.   ;-) We get a kick out of watching the bus drive by everyday with all of those little faces pressed up against the glass in "awe".
9. Also, if you would like more info on how this is assembled, check out this post where I answered additional questions regarding Mr. Bones.

Blessings, Tracy

P.S. - We are lucky enough to live in a very safe family oriented area. Nobody has bothered "Mr. Bones" in the 5 plus years he has been riding around our front garden. Plus, if needed, it is easy enough to bring him in every night. 

I am linking this post to the DIY Show and Tell Halloween Surprise Party.